Phil Mauger, mayoral candidate is interviewed here today!

LISTEN ABOVE

Phil Mauger, mayoral candidate is interviewed here today!
LISTEN ABOVE

Every weekday join the new voice of local issues on Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald, 9am-12pm weekdays.

It’s all about the conversation with John, as he gets right into the things that get our community talking.

If it’s news you’re after, backing John is the combined power of the Newstalk ZB and New Zealand Herald news teams. Meaning when it comes to covering breaking news – you will not beat local radio.

With two decades experience in communications based in Christchurch, John also has a deep understanding of and connections to the Christchurch and Canterbury commercial sector.

Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings 9am-12pm with John MacDonald on 100.1FM and iHeartRadio.

Every weekday join the new voice of local issues on Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald, 9am-12pm weekdays. It’s all about the conversation with John, as he gets right into the things that get our community talking. If it’s news you’re after, backing John is the combined power of the Newstalk ZB and New Zealand Herald news teams. Meaning when it comes to covering breaking news – you will not beat local radio. With two decades experience in communications based in Christchurch, John also has a deep understanding of and connections to the Christchurch and Canterbury commercial sector. Newstalk ZB Canterbury Mornings 9am-12pm with John MacDonald on 100.1FM and iHeartRadio.

Every weekday join the new voice of local issues on Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald, 9am-12pm weekdays.

It’s all about the conversation with John, as he gets right into the things that get our community talking.

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

Phil Mauger: Mayoral candidate interview

{"markup":"

I’m glad I’m not a teacher today.\n

If I’m honest, I’m glad I’m not a teacher every day. Couldn’t do it.\n

But I’m especially glad after this ham-fisted announcement by Associate Education Minister David Seymour that, if schools want to have teacher-only days, they’re going to have to have them outside term time.\n

Which is essentially telling the teachers that if they want to have any sort of professional development or training, they need to do it during their own time. They have to chew up some of their annual leave or other leave entitlement to do it.\n

Can you imagine any other employer trying to get away with that? “Oh yeah, looks like a great course, Shona. But you’ll have to do it during your holidays.” As if that would happen.\n

But that’s what David Seymour wants principals to tell their staff. And what makes this approach by the Government so ham-fisted, is that they’re only doing it for the people screaming on the sidelines.\n

The people who like to bang-on about teachers having 10 weeks holiday a year. The people who bang-on ignorantly about teachers only working from 9 ‘til 3.\n

They’re also doing it to grease up to all the parents who like to whinge about teacher-only days.\n

I’ve been there, done that when it comes to dealing with the inconvenience that teacher-only days can be. Just like everyone else, I’ve been a bit cynical at times about teacher-only days being held on the first day of term or the last day of term.\n

But, deep down, I’ve known that they are held for very good reasons.\n

Like everyone else —especially when our kids were young— it meant that we had to juggle things a bit on teacher-only days. And —because I’ve been there, done that— I think I’m qualified to say that, sometimes, parents can be the biggest bunch of whingers when it comes to school.\n

I can’t remember specific examples, but I bet, at times, I whinged with the best of them when our kids were at school. Some parents are more inclined than others to whinge - but we’re all pretty good at it.\n

And this is what the Government is responding to with this directive to schools to not have teacher-only days during term time.\n

And what makes the Government’s approach on this even more ham-fisted, is that it’s doing this at the same time as it’s telling teachers that there are a whole lot of changes on the way, a new maths curriculum —all of that— and, at the same time, they’re telling teachers to forget about having teacher-only days during term time.\n

But did someone not tell David Seymour that these teacher-only days are when the teachers are going to get their heads around all these changes the Government wants happening from Term 1 next year?\n

Oh that doesn’t matter. Sod the teachers as long as we’re getting brownie points from voters who, when it comes down to it, don’t know a thing about teacher-only days but “goddam it if I have to get someone to look after the kids after school because of another blimmin’ teacher-only day”.\n

I see this is being described as “a kick in the guts” for under-pressure staff.\n

Peter Thorne is the acting principal of Belmont Primary School on Auckland’s North Shore and he’s saying that it’s a kick in the guts because teacher-only days are the opportunity for teachers to get-together and focus on their professional needs and the needs of their students.\n

And what’s the problem with that?\n

What this is, is an assault on teachers. And they have every right to feel that way, especially, when the Government is dressing this up as part of the solution to the problem we have with truancy.\n

Do you really think that the odd teacher-only day now and then is getting kids into the habit of wagging school? It’s absolute nonsense.","blocks":{"contentData":[],"settingsData":[]}}

{"markup":"<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">I’m glad I’m not a teacher today.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">If I’m honest, I’m glad I’m not a teacher every day. Couldn’t do it.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">But I’m especially glad after this ham-fisted announcement by Associate Education Minister David Seymour that, if schools want to have teacher-only days, they’re going to have to have them outside term time.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">Which is essentially telling the teachers that if they want to have any sort of professional development or training, they need to do it during their own time. They have to chew up some of their annual leave or other leave entitlement to do it.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">Can you imagine any other employer trying to get away with that? “Oh yeah, looks like a great course, Shona. But you’ll have to do it during your holidays.” As if that would happen.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">But that’s what David Seymour wants principals to tell their staff. And what makes this approach by the Government so ham-fisted, is that they’re only doing it for the people screaming on the sidelines.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">The people who like to bang-on about teachers having 10 weeks holiday a year. The people who bang-on ignorantly about teachers only working from 9 ‘til 3.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">They’re also doing it to grease up to all the parents who like to whinge about teacher-only days.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">I’ve been there, done that when it comes to dealing with the inconvenience that teacher-only days can be. Just like everyone else, I’ve been a bit cynical at times about teacher-only days being held on the first day of term or the last day of term.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">But, deep down, I’ve known that they are held for very good reasons.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">Like everyone else —especially when our kids were young— it meant that we had to juggle things a bit on teacher-only days. And —because I’ve been there, done that— I think I’m qualified to say that, sometimes, parents can be the biggest bunch of whingers when it comes to school.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">I can’t remember specific examples, but I bet, at times, I whinged with the best of them when our kids were at school. Some parents are more inclined than others to whinge - but we’re all pretty good at it.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">And this is what the Government is responding to with this directive to schools to not have teacher-only days during term time.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">And what makes the Government’s approach on this even more ham-fisted, is that it’s doing this at the same time as it’s telling teachers that there are a whole lot of changes on the way, a new maths curriculum —all of that— and, at the same time, they’re telling teachers to forget about having teacher-only days during term time.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">But did someone not tell David Seymour that these teacher-only days are when the teachers are going to get their heads around all these changes the Government wants happening from Term 1 next year?\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"=""><span style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" background-position:="" 0px="" 100%;="" background-repeat:="" repeat-x;="" background-image:="" var(--urlcontextualspellingandgrammarerrorv2,);="" border-bottom:="" 1px="" solid="" transparent;\"="">Oh that doesn’t matter. Sod the teachers as long as we’re getting brownie points from voters who, when it comes down to it, don’t know a thing about teacher-only days but “goddam it if I have to get someone to look after the kids after school because of another blimmin’ teacher-only day”.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">I see this is being described as “a kick in the guts” for under-pressure staff.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">Peter Thorne is the acting principal of Belmont Primary School on Auckland’s North Shore and he’s saying that it’s a kick in the guts because teacher-only days are the opportunity for teachers to get-together and focus on their professional needs and the needs of their students.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">And what’s the problem with that?\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">What this is, is an assault on teachers. And they have every right to feel that way, especially, when the Government is dressing this up as part of the solution to the problem we have with truancy.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 16px="" 0px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">Do you really think that the odd teacher-only day now and then is getting kids into the habit of wagging school? It’s absolute nonsense.","blocks":{"contentData":[],"settingsData":[]}}

John MacDonald: I'm with the teachers on this one

{"markup":"

Today on Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald was joined by Duncan Webb and Nicola Grigg for Politics Friday.\n

On the agenda: how does National defend what has been labelled an attack on teachers with changes to teacher-only days? Was the Government too ambitious with its plans for the Dunedin hospital? How will this impact medical students in Otago?\n

And the Selwyn Mayor says his district will be bigger than Dunedin in ten years, and with Christchurch’s population set to boom - is our infrastructure up to the growth expected? \n

LISTEN ABOVE","blocks":{"contentData":[],"settingsData":[]}}

{"markup":"<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 0px="" 0px="" 10.6667px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">Today on Canterbury Mornings, John MacDonald was joined by Duncan Webb and Nicola Grigg for Politics Friday.\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 0px="" 0px="" 10.6667px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">On the agenda: how does National defend what has been labelled an attack on teachers with changes to teacher-only days? Was the Government too ambitious with its plans for the Dunedin hospital? How will this impact medical students in Otago?\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 0px="" 0px="" 10.6667px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">And the Selwyn Mayor says his district will be bigger than Dunedin in ten years, and with&nbsp;Christchurch’s population set to boom - is our infrastructure up to the growth expected?&nbsp;\n<p style="\&quot;-webkit-user-drag:" none;="" -webkit-tap-highlight-color:="" transparent;="" margin:="" 0px="" 0px="" 10.6667px;="" padding:="" 0px;="" user-select:="" text;="" overflow-wrap:="" break-word;="" white-space:="" pre-wrap;="" vertical-align:="" baseline;="" font-kerning:="" none;="" background-color:="" transparent;="" color:="" windowtext;="" text-align:="" left;="" text-indent:="" 0px;\"="">LISTEN ABOVE","blocks":{"contentData":[],"settingsData":[]}}

Politics Friday with Nicola Grigg and Duncan Webb: Changes to teacher-only days, Dunedin Hospital, Infrastructure and population growth

When you look around Greater Christchurch, do you look around and think “oh, we could handle another 100-or-so thousand people living here”?

Do you think to yourself “our roads aren’t clogged up, our schools aren’t overcrowded, we’ve got plenty of houses”? Do you think that?

Or does it feel to you like we’re just getting by with what we’ve got, with the population we’ve got?

I think we’re just getting by and, if we don’t wake up, we’re going to be another Auckland before we know it. 

There are a couple of things today that have got me thinking about this. The first is this report from the Infrastructure Commission which pretty much says —when it comes to infrastructure— we kind of know what we need to do, and we just need to do it.

And one of the key issues it identifies is population growth and how we’re going to deal with it.

The other thing that’s got me thinking about how disorganised we are for having a truckload more people living here is what Selwyn mayor Sam Broughton is saying today about population growth in his area. He’s saying that, in 10 years time, the population of Selwyn will be bigger than the population of Dunedin.

Dunedin’s population by the way is currently about 130,000. And Sam Broughton thinks there’ll be more people than that living in Selwyn in 10 years time.

Rolleston, especially, is going nuts. As of last year, the population of Rolleston was 29,600. Almost triple what it was in 2013. As for the population of the wider Selwyn district - as of last year, it was 81,300, which was a 5.2% increase on the year before.

Compare that to the whole country’s population growth over the same period - which was 2.1%. So nationally, 2.1% population growth. In Selwyn, 5.2%. And these are the numbers that have prompted Sam Broughton to say that, 10 years from now, there’ll be more people living in Selwyn than Dunedin.

And it’s not just Selwyn. It seems to me that the whole of Greater Christchurch is going nuts - or not far away from going nuts, anyway.

Let’s look at Christchurch city’s population. At the moment —according to the Christchurch City Council website— the population in the city is 396,200 – that’s as of June last year.

After the earthquakes, the numbers went down by about 21,000 people. But things have bounced back - in fact, they had bounced back by 2017. And, it seems to me, that there’s no shortage of people wanting to come here from around the country.

The universities —Lincoln and UC— are going off big time, which is such a change from how things were after the quakes.

And, as for population growth in Christchurch, the numbers in terms of projections seem to vary a bit but there’s no doubt the city is going to have more people —not less— in the future. Numbers I’ve seen this morning say the population of Christchurch could be as high as 445,000 in 10 years time, and well over half a million in about 15 years time.

So, a lot of variables, but there’s going to be more people here in a pretty short time.

Are we ready for that? I don’t think we are. At least when you consider how things are at the moment.

We’ve got someone here at work who says it can take her 45 minutes to get from where we are on Armagh Street by the Margaret Mahy playground - it can take her 45 minutes in the evenings to get from here to Brougham Street. And then she’s got the drive to Rolleston from there.

I don’t think we’re ready when you consider the likes of Cashmere High School making its zone smaller and smaller in recent years because it’s struggling to cope with the number of kids living in its enrolment area.

I don’t think we’re ready when you consider that we still don’t have properly functioning infrastructure like the fire-damaged wastewater plant and that organics plant that’s been making life miserable for people in the East.

The traffic on Brougham Street. Do you reckon that piece of road is ready to cope with gazillions more people coming in from Rolleston? If Sam Broughton is right and there are more people living in Selwyn than Dunedin in 10 years time - then we’re going to need some pretty serious changes there, aren’t we?

Especially when you consider that stat that was thrown around at the time of the big stadium debate, that 50% of the people who currently live in Selwyn travel into Christchurch everyday for work, school and other things.

So I don’t think we are ready and we need to wake up.  

When you look around Greater Christchurch, do you look around and think “oh, we could handle another 100-or-so thousand people living here”? 
Do you think to yourself “our roads aren’t clogged up, our schools aren’t overcrowded, we’ve got plenty of houses”? Do you think that? 
Or does it feel to you like we’re just getting by with what we’ve got, with the population we’ve got? 
I think we’re just getting by and, if we don’t wake up, we’re going to be another Auckland before we know it.  
There are a couple of things today that have got me thinking about this. The first is this report from the Infrastructure Commission which pretty much says —when it comes to infrastructure— we kind of know what we need to do, and we just need to do it. 
And one of the key issues it identifies is population growth and how we’re going to deal with it. 
The other thing that’s got me thinking about how disorganised we are for having a truckload more people living here is what Selwyn mayor Sam Broughton is saying today about population growth in his area. He’s saying that, in 10 years time, the population of Selwyn will be bigger than the population of Dunedin. 
Dunedin’s population by the way is currently about 130,000. And Sam Broughton thinks there’ll be more people than that living in Selwyn in 10 years time. 
Rolleston, especially, is going nuts. As of last year, the population of Rolleston was 29,600. Almost triple what it was in 2013. As for the population of the wider Selwyn district - as of last year, it was 81,300, which was a 5.2% increase on the year before. 
Compare that to the whole country’s population growth over the same period - which was 2.1%. So nationally, 2.1% population growth. In Selwyn, 5.2%. And these are the numbers that have prompted Sam Broughton to say that, 10 years from now, there’ll be more people living in Selwyn than Dunedin. 
And it’s not just Selwyn. It seems to me that the whole of Greater Christchurch is going nuts - or not far away from going nuts, anyway. 
Let’s look at Christchurch city’s population. At the moment —according to the Christchurch City Council website— the population in the city is 396,200 – that’s as of June last year. 
After the earthquakes, the numbers went down by about 21,000 people. But things have bounced back - in fact, they had bounced back by 2017. And, it seems to me, that there’s no shortage of people wanting to come here from around the country. 
The universities —Lincoln and UC— are going off big time, which is such a change from how things were after the quakes. 
And, as for population growth in Christchurch, the numbers in terms of projections seem to vary a bit but there’s no doubt the city is going to have more people —not less— in the future. Numbers I’ve seen this morning say the population of Christchurch could be as high as 445,000 in 10 years time, and well over half a million in about 15 years time. 
So, a lot of variables, but there’s going to be more people here in a pretty short time. 
Are we ready for that? I don’t think we are. At least when you consider how things are at the moment. 
We’ve got someone here at work who says it can take her 45 minutes to get from where we are on Armagh Street by the Margaret Mahy playground - it can take her 45 minutes in the evenings to get from here to Brougham Street. And then she’s got the drive to Rolleston from there. 
I don’t think we’re ready when you consider the likes of Cashmere High School making its zone smaller and smaller in recent years because it’s struggling to cope with the number of kids living in its enrolment area. 
I don’t think we’re ready when you consider that we still don’t have properly functioning infrastructure like the fire-damaged wastewater plant and that organics plant that’s been making life miserable for people in the East. 
The traffic on Brougham Street. Do you reckon that piece of road is ready to cope with gazillions more people coming in from Rolleston? If Sam Broughton is right and there are more people living in Selwyn than Dunedin in 10 years time - then we’re going to need some pretty serious changes there, aren’t we? 
Especially when you consider that stat that was thrown around at the time of the big stadium debate, that 50% of the people who currently live in Selwyn travel into Christchurch everyday for work, school and other things. 
So I don’t think we are ready and we need to wake up.

Phil Mauger: Mayoral candidate interview

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